Snake – Danee Robinson

Snake – Danee Robinson

Danee Robinson, 17 – sings this jazzy number written by Jake Heggie about Eve’s encounter in the Garden of Eden with the serpent (snake). This is one of the underdergraduate audition numbers she is sending off for admissions to various Schools of Music. It was recorded lived on November 26, 2011. Danee’s other recordings are available on ITunes and Amazon. Her website is http://www.daneerobinson.com. Licensing by Harry Fox Agency license # 1156768147

 

 

GREAT PERFORMANCES: Angela Gheorghiu – Addio del passato – La Traviata

Angela Gheorghiu – Addio del passato – La Traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)
Angela Gheorghiu sings ‘Addio del passato’ from the opera ‘La Traviata’
at a concert in Brussels in 2004. Yoel Levi is the conductor.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Giuseppe Verdi
Operas[show]

La traviata (Italian: [la traˈvjaːta], “The Fallen Woman”^[1][2]) is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias(1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The opera was originally entitled Violetta, after the main character. It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at the La Fenice opera house in Venice.

Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting, but the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in the past, “c. 1700”. It was not until the 1880s that the composer and librettist’s original wishes were carried out and “realistic” productions were staged.^[3]

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TODAY’S HOLIDAY: MEITLISONNTAG

Meitlisonntag

In the Seetal district of Aargau, Switzerland, the girls of Meisterschwanden and Farhwangen hold a procession on the second Sunday in January known as Meitlisonntag, “Girls‘ Sunday.” They dress in historical uniforms and stage a military parade before an all-female General Staff. The custom dates from the second Villgermen War of 1712, a conflict in which the women of Meisterschwanden and Fahrwangen played a vital role in achieving victory. The military procession is followed by a popular festival. More… Discuss

 

QUOTATION: Henry David Thoreau

I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Discuss

 

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: JOHN SINGER SARGENT (1856)

John Singer Sargent (1856)

The son of American expatriates, Sargent grew up in Europe and studied painting in Paris. His best known work is the Portrait of Madame X, which created a scandal at the 1884 Salon—critics found it erotic, and the sitter’s mother disapproved. Discouraged, Sargent moved permanently to London where he captured Edwardian high society in elegant portraits painted with his slashing brushstrokes. Though his portraits brought him acclaim, fellow artist James Whistler described them in what way?More… Discuss

THIS DAY IN THE YESTERYEAR: MOTOWN RECORDS FOUNDED (1959)

Motown Records Founded (1959)

Detroit songwriter Berry Gordy, Jr., founded Motown Records in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family. The label scored its first big hit with the Miracles‘ “Shop Around” in 1960, and its roster soon boasted the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Supremes, and Marvin Gaye. By creating the “Motown sound“—lyrical ballads set to an infectiously rhythmic accompaniment—it helped to make African-American music part of the popular music industry. Where does the name “Motown” come from?More… Discuss

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NEWS: FAD DIETS CAN WORK

Fad Diets Can Work

If you want to lose weight in 2014, you are going to have to work for it. Regardless of which diet one follows, and there are countless to choose from, the key is sticking to it. Researchers say even “fad” diets like the Paleo diet, a nutritional plan based on the presumed diet of thehunter-gatherer of long ago, and the 5:2 diet, which restricts followers to as little as 400 calories on two “fasting” days each week, can lead to weight loss, so long as the dieter does not stray from the plan. More…Discuss

 

WORD: CONTRARIOUS

contrarious 

Definition:	(adjective) Difficult to deal with.
Synonyms:	cross-grained
Usage:	I do not know how people tolerate teenage girls; they are the most contrarious creatures ever to walk the Earth! Discuss.

 

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Great Performances: Schumann Kinderszenen Op 15 – Valentina Lisitsa

Schumann Kinderszenen Op 15 – Valentina Lisitsa 

 

Great Performances: George Gershwin: An American In Paris / Gustavo Dudamel – Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

Published on Jun 4, 2013
Gershwin An American In Paris Dudamel Gustavo Los Angeles Philharminic Orchestra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  

This article is about the 1928 George Gershwin music. For the 1951 musical starring Gene Kelly, see An American in Paris (film). For Christopher Wheeldon‘s 2005 ballet, see An American in Paris (ballet).

A theme from George Gershwin’s orchestral
composition An American in Paris

An American in Paris is a symphonic tone poem by the American composer George Gershwin, written in 1928. Inspired by the time Gershwin had spent in Paris, it evokes the sights and energy of the French capital in the 1920s and is one of his best-known compositions.

Gershwin composed An American in Paris on commission from the New York Philharmonic. He scored the piece for the standard instruments of the symphony orchestra plus celesta, saxophones, and automobile horns. He brought back some Parisian taxi horns for the New York premiere of the composition, which took place on December 13, 1928 in Carnegie Hall, with Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Symphony. Gershwin completed the orchestration on November 18, less than four weeks before the work’s premiere.^[1]

Gershwin collaborated on the original program notes with the critic and composer Deems Taylor, noting that: “My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere.” When the tone poem moves into the blues, “our American friend … has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness.” But, “nostalgia is not a fatal disease.” The American visitor “once again is an alert spectator of Parisian life” and “the street noises and French atmosphere are triumphant.”
Gershwin based An American in Paris on a melodic fragment called “Very Parisienne”, written in 1926 on his first visit to Paris as a gift to his hosts, Robert and Mabel Schirmer. He described the piece as a “rhapsodic ballet” because it was written freely and is more modern than his previous works. Gershwin explained in Musical America, “My purpose here is to portray the impressions of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city, listens to the various street noises, and absorbs the French atmosphere.”

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Fabulous Compositions/Performances: Valentina Lisitsa plays Schubert – Liszt’s “Ave Maria”

Ave Maria Schubert Liszt Valentina Lisitsa
From Valentina:  “The most beautiful and inspired melody ever written, isn’t it? I don’t feel any kind of video or visual is adequate for this music. Too much action , with hands flying all over the keyboard  ( Liszt made sure it is one of the most difficult transcriptions – ever ) . To fully enjoy it , download a free MP3 at my Google Music store:

https://market.android.com/details?id…
Outside of US download here : http://tinyurl.com/7zz3ewc
If you feel creative, please go ahead and make better visuals – or just use it as a soundtrack for a self-made Christmas card, or share it with your friends as is… Enjoy – and Merry Christmas !!!!
The video was recorded a week ago , in Hannover – for “Liszt project”, my attempt to recreate old style recording — with final result being an fully analogue vinyl LP…
PS. Turns out Google music is not available for non-US users. I uploaded it on file-sharing and links are available at my twitter account ( ValLisitsa) and Facebook. or directly:
http://tinyurl.com/7zz3ewc

Sheet music is available at IMSLP here ( it is a beautiful first edition in public domain ): 
http://tinyurl.com/7sln8xh“

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• November 3 2013 Cologne Recital – Bigger, Longer & Uncut , Raw Video Feed , Valentina Lisitsa

 

Fabulous Composers/Compositions: Aram Khachaturian:Masquerade Suite

Khachaturina:Masquerade Suite(Waltz/Nocturne/Mazurka/Romance/Gal­op)
The Japan Sinfonia cond.by Hisayoshi Inoue
2010/05/09/Daiichi-Seimei Hall,Tokyo

 

Leo Weiner Serenade Op.3 f-moll

Dohnanyi Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Dian Tchobanov

Great Performances: Rino Maione- Luigi CHERUBINI/Rev.Maione: Elisa Ouverture

Translated from Italian by Google Translator: “Luigi Cherubini Rev. Rino MAIONE – ELISA : Overture
RAI Symphony Orchestra of Rome Director Rino MAIONE
P.S. The video function only document the work of the auditor and director of my father, who is best known as the Music History.

RINO MAIONE , graduated in Composition and Piano, graduated in Arts , conductor and musicographer , former Professor of Exegesis in the University Musical Bolivarian Colombia , History and Aesthetics of music at the conservatories of Naples , Turin and Milan , and author of books of music literature published in Buenos Aires ( since Variaciones theme , Myrski ), Rome ( pretexts of music literature , AISC ), Naples ( Reasons historical and aesthetic of the music, SEN) , Milan ( from the Greeks to Schönberg , Hoepli ), Bergamo ( course of music history , Carrara ) . He has directed the Orchestra of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples , the Teatro Verdi in Trieste , the Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia in Rome , Teatro alla Scala for the Concert Society of Milan, RAI , etc. . He composed symphonic and chamber music , Lyrical and Cori , and transcribed , reviewed and published compositions of Frescobaldi , UK Martini, Cherubini , Mercadante and Zingarelli . NECKLACE MUSICA DE n . 2″

Original Text in Italian: “Rino Maione- Luigi CHERUBINI/Rev.Maione: Elisa Ouverture
Luigi CHERUBINI Rev. Rino MAIONE – ELISA: Ouverture
Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI di Roma Direttore Rino MAIONE
P.S. Il video ha solo funzione di documento dell’opera di revisore e di Direttore di mio padre, che è maggiormente conosciuto come Storico della Musica

RINO MAIONE, diplomato in Composizione e Pianoforte, laureato in Lettere, direttore d’orchestra e musicografo, già docente di Esegesi Musicale nell’Universita Bolivariana di Colombia, di Storia ed Estetica della musica nei Conservatori di Napoli, Torino e Milano, e autore di libri di letteratura musicale pubblicati a Buenos Aires (Variaciones sin tema, Myrski), Roma (Pretesti di letteratura musicale, AISC), Napoli (Motivi storici ed estetici della musica, SEN), Milano (Dai Greci a Schönberg, Hoepli), Bergamo (Corso di storia della musica, Carrara). Ha diretto le Orchestre del Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, del Teatro Verdi di Trieste, dell’Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia di Roma, del Teatro alla Scala per la Società dei Concerti di Milano, della RAI, etc. Ha composto musiche sinfoniche e da camera, Liriche e Cori, e ha trascritto, revisionato e pubblicato composizioni di Frescobaldi, G.B. Martini, Cherubini, Mercadante e Zingarelli. COLLANA DE MUSICA n. 2″

 

Fabulous Composers/Compositions: Felix Mendelssohn, Violin Sonata in F Minor, Op. 4, MWV Q12, I. Adagio – Allegro moderato

Felix Mendelssohn
Romain Descharmes, Tianwa Yang, Descharmes, Romain, Gallois, Patrick, Sinfonia Finlandia Jyvaskyla, Yang, Tianwa
Violin Sonata in F Minor, Op. 4, MWV Q12
Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos – Violin Sonata in F minor
8.572662
http://www.classicsonline.com/catalog…
http://www.naxoslicensing.com/

 

Absurd Creature of the Week: The Anglerfish and the Absolute Worst Sex on Earth – Wired Science

Absurd Creature of the Week: The Anglerfish and the Absolute Worst Sex on Earth – Wired Science.

Absurd Creature of the Week: Ferocious, Fearless Mantis Shrimp Is the Honey Badger of the Sea – Wired Science

Absurd Creature of the Week: Ferocious, Fearless Mantis Shrimp Is the Honey Badger of the Sea – Wired Science.

Insurers under fire as Obamacare kicks in – latimes.com

Insurers under fire as Obamacare kicks in – latimes.com.

BBC News – Kenyan ‘corpse’ wakes up in Naivasha morgue

BBC News – Kenyan ‘corpse’ wakes up in Naivasha morgue.

‘Parliament makes decisions, not the people’ – anger as Peers say public cannot be trusted on EU vote – Telegraph

‘Parliament makes decisions, not the people’ – anger as Peers say public cannot be trusted on EU vote – Telegraph.